Friday, March 18, 2011

It's no secret that I adore Zoya, so when they had a promo for their spring Intimate collection, I immediately took advantage of it to add these lovely shades to my Zoya-stash! :) Enjoy!

Gemma

Gemma is a murky olive green with magical iridescent blue and fuchsia micro-shimmer. Simply amazing! I would definitely recommend this to any green polish lovers. This one is as for my favorite of the collection with Dannii!

Marley

Marley is a pale lavender pastel with the slightest hint of shimmer which is only visible in direct sunlight. Perfect shade for spring.

Caitlin

Caitlin is a medium grey creme with strong blue undertones. This one is opaque enough that it could get away with 1 coat, but I'm a firm believer in all polishes needing at least 2, so 2 it is. I didn't expect this one to be in a spring collection, but I'm glad it is! It's Kelly's baby sister :D

Dannii

Dannii is a stunning purple foil with pink and gold shimmer. It isnt a true foil, but it's the closest finish I can think of for it. Absolutely beautiful, and very sparkly! I can't decide if this or Gemma is my favorite of the collection... I love them both so much!

Dove

Dove is a light grey creme. Lovely shade. And just like the rest of the cremes in this collection, it applied really well.

Jules

Jules is a taupe with lots of silver and gold shimmer. In fact, this almost has that same faux-foil look as Dannii. Very unique color.

Overall, I'm very happy with this collection. All the colors are beautiful, and each one applied flawlessly and took 2 coats to be completely opaque. Bravo, Zoya, well done! Can't wait for the summer collections now :D

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

A little over a week ago, I got my first Jewelmint order! There are lots of pieces I liked, but only got two to try at first: Metal Mosaic Ring and Miro Bracelet.

What is Jewelmint?

For those of you that are not familiar with Jewelmint, it is an online jewelry boutique/club created by Kate Bosworth and her stylist Cher Coulter. You sign up for it by taking a short "style-quiz" which allows the website to determine what pieces you might like based on your answers (though I don't think it's very accurate, but luckily you are not limited to just the pieces they send you) after which you are emailed 3 selections at the beginning of every month. Like I said, if you don't like the selections in your showroom, you can always click on "Show Me More" and view all the other pieces currently available! Each item is $29.99 with free shipping (they only ship to the US at this time), and after you make your first purchase (the following month) it starts a monthly fee of $29.99 (each month's fee adds one credit to your account, and each credit can be redeemed for one piece of jewelry, so it's like getting prepaid stuff!) BUT there is absolutely no obligation, and you can cancel the monthly charge by clicking on "Skip this month" during the first 5 days of each month. If you choose to skip the monthly fee, you can still purchase something at any time during that month! I know a lot of people get scared by the "monthly fee" part thinking they'll be stuck with it, don't be, but if you are, I suggest you read the FAQ at the bottom of Jewelmint's website, it explains everything. Don't worry, there are is no fine print and you can cancel your membership at any time with a simple phone call (but why would you want to)!

Ships in a black plastic envelope with the Jewelmint logo and website on the back.

The jewelry comes in beautiful boxes with the Jewelmint signature in the bottom left corner and a ribbon tied in a bow around the box (not pictured), I'm not sure how many color variations the boxes come in, but the bracelet came in the black box, while the ring came in the mint green one.

Miro Bracelet

The bracelet comes in a cute black velvet bag (inside the box, but black on black does not produce clear pictures) with drawstrings and a little silver "jewelmint" charm. On the top flat of the box, there's a little description of the piece.

This is such a fun color blocking inspired bracelet! It's very well made, not heavy, the clasp is secure and it doesn't feel like a cheap plastic "toy". It is 7.5" and fits comfortably on my tiny wrists :) Can't wait to style this!

Metal Mosaic Ring

The ring sits on a piece of velvety cardboard, with the Jewelmint signature in the bottom left corner, and like the bracelet, there is a little description on the upper flap of the box. Beautiful presentation.

This tarnished silver ring is the perfect statement piece, especially when you are going for the "rocker" look. It is chunky while still being comfortable, but even though it claims to be a size 8, it feels smaller and therefore does not fit on my middle fingers (which is how I planned on wearing it, oh well). The surface has small "blocks" of varying heights, and there are 3 ridges going down either side from their respective "blocks", which I think are a nice touch. Absolutely love this piece, and definitely plan on wearing it often!

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Pearl of Wisdom is a very sheer white with pink/green iridescence and fine silver shimmer. It's very shiny in person, but due to a lack of sunlight lately, it looks dull here :( This was the most delicate shade in the Hong Kong Collection last year, and for some reason I never tried it until now. Very pretty layered over other colors, or on it's own (if you don't mind visible nail line, that is). This is 4 coats.

Saturday, March 5, 2011

So I know I'm a bit late on the bandwagon, but I had to wait 3+ weeks for Teenage Dream and Last Friday Night (they were worth the wait). The One That Got Away didn't interest me at all, so I passed on it, which I now regret, but oh well... I got The One That Got Away! Will have pictures and a review up soon :)

Last Friday Night

Last Friday Night is packed with round/hexagonal (I honestly can't tell which it is) and particle glitter in a very sheer blue base. This is very pretty on it's own and layered over other blues, but strangely it dries to a satin finish, so a top coat is necessary unless you want it to look dull. Bottle color, while beautiful, is deceiving, and I don't even want to think about how many coats it would take to achieve it. This is 4 coats.

Left to right: 4 coats, 3 coats, 2 coats, 1 coat

Teenage Dream

Teenage Dream is a sheer pink jelly with iridescent hexagonal and particle glitter (tons of it!) This one is like a pink disco ball in a bottle! Love it! It is a bit thicker than I expected, so it will most likely need thinner down the road. And it's also a lot more opaque than LFN, this is 2 coats but even with just 1, it's pretty impressive (see below)

Index and middle: 2 coats

Ring and pinky: 1 coat

Not Like The Movies

NLTM is a sheer green and purple/grey duochrome with silver shimmer. This is very pretty, and applies really well, but for some reason shows slight brushstrokes light a frost finish. Regardless, I love duochromes and this is no exception! I also happen to love the song. You can get away with 2 coats on this one, but I went with 3 because I spied some VNL.

DUOCHROME GOODNESS! :D

Black Shatter

The Katy Perry collection was released with this little gem, the Black Shatter. You apply one coat of this like normal to completely dried polish and it shrinks and separates as it dries (which is wicked cool to watch!) to reveal little cracks. For thicker cracks, use a thick coat, and for smaller cracks, use a thinner coat (see below, LFN has a very thin coat of it, while NLTM is quite thick). It dries matte, and while you can wear it without a top coat, the texture might annoy you. I prefer the shiny black "patent" look and smooth finish :)

Over Last Friday Night

Over Teenage Dream

Over Not Like The Movies

Overall, I love these! I don't have a favorite, because I like them all for different reasons, but I will say that as far as shatter over these: LFN wins :)

These are limited edition, so run, don't walk, to your local Ulta/salon/etailer and get your hands on them!

Thursday, March 3, 2011

In honor of St. Patrick's Day (I assume), Zoya is holding yet another promotion! This time, it's for 3 of their gorgeous greens: Ivanka, Shawn and Suvi. To get your hands on these babies, simply add this to your cart (just one green set per person will be the $5 price, any other trios are regular price) and proceed to checkout, where you will see a -$19 discount. Shipping fee applies, so it will cost you a total of about $12. This is only open to the continental US. Offer valid 3/4/11-3/7/11 at 11:59PM EST.

Thank you Zoya for yet another wonderful promo! <3

SOLD OUT IN UNDER 12 HOURS!

Those of you that missed out on this one, fear not! Zoya will have another promo in the next 2 weeks. Here's what they said:

"Sometime in the next 2 weeks we have a HUGE - We are talking HUGE promo in the works. You are going to LOVE IT! Be sure to check back. (Hint - You will need for this next promo- A love of polish and an account on Zoya.com)"